The new HFP chat thread – Friday 24th July

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

• Jerrry Butler says:

  24 Jul24 July 13:52

  Question;

  I have had Amex Business platinum this year and cancelled after hitting bonus in June, will I get bonus if I apply for Gold business?

  • Rob says:

    24 Jul24 July 14:07

    Needs 6 month gap

    • Jerrry Butler says:

      24 Jul24 July 14:14

      Ok Thank you.

• chabuddy geezy says:

  24 Jul24 July 14:26

  I am looking to rent a car in Belfast. Are Hertz as bad as their atrocious online reviews?

  • Lady London says:

    24 Jul24 July 15:29

    If reviews are generally bad steer clear.

    Favourable reviews dont guarantee all is OK but IME a spectrum of bad reviews is always a warning that should be heeded.

  • Sina says:

    24 Jul24 July 19:39

    I rented from Hertz last year, it was a guaranteed premium and the guy tried to give me a Vauxhall indignia initially! When I insisted he then gave me a new BMW 5, and gave me double grace period for free when i returned the car. (8 hour late!) but apart from that everything was OK.

• Toby says:

  24 Jul24 July 15:44

  Hello! I’m a long time reader, first comment!

  Has anyone got suggestions for the most efficient way to pay childcare costs via HMRC childcare. They don’t take credit card, or curve. So I’m a bit stumped!

• Martha says:

  24 Jul24 July 16:25

  Hi. I am trying to increase my Curve card spend for them to increase my limit. I am using all ordinary spend with no MS etc. If I add my COT card and make genuine business expenses using curve where they only accept debit cards, would curve not like this? Thank you. M

  • Doug M says:

    24 Jul24 July 17:06

    Not sure about business. I have the ordinary (Blue) Curve card. I’d say 95% plus has been paying Amex or saving with NS&I. When I was a few hundred from the 50K annual limit I asked Curve for an increase expecting a no. They replied they’d increase it to 100K with no mention of spending pattern. Checked App and it was 300K.

• JP-MCO says:

  24 Jul24 July 16:31

  Does anybody know if you have to keep your Virgin Atlantic MasterCard in order to use your accumulated companion vouchers? Is it not like BA AMEX where you have to hold one of the cards?

  • Paul says:

    24 Jul24 July 16:42

    You can scratch the card – I did just b4 annual renewal in June – and the vouchers will still be in your Virgin Miles account safe and sound.

    • Doug M says:

      24 Jul24 July 17:08

      Agreed. I closed card and kept the somewhat meh voucher. Can’t see I’ll ever have Virgin status which makes the voucher so so.

  • stevenhp1987 says:

    24 Jul24 July 19:34

    I used the voucher last year (last minute NYC redemption).

    I paid the taxes and surcharges on my Amex so no requirement to use the VS card.

• James says:

  24 Jul24 July 17:08

  When it comes to ERNIE, what does everyone do? Withdraw as soon as its available or wait for them to be entered into a draw then then withdraw?

  • Grant says:

    24 Jul24 July 18:05

    I think most people who do what you are thinking of doing don’t use ERNIE per se, they use the direct saver account from the same place.

    • Rahaney says:

      24 Jul24 July 19:07

      Just looked at this myself in the last few weeks. There’s multiple posts out there that report delays of several days to the process (both in/out) using the DS as opposed to PB. Opted for the latter myself, be interested if this is not the case in reality??

  • memesweeper says:

    24 Jul24 July 18:36

    Withdrawing as soon as available is more likely to cause a review. I wouldn’t withdrawn until I needed the money and there was no alternative.

    • Doug M says:

      24 Jul24 July 20:08

      I definitely don’t do that, it looks shady. Typically rotating about 20% of the account balance per month.

      • Blindman says:

        24 Jul24 July 20:30

        I have curve Blue with IHG.

        Can’t seem to open an NSI account as it needs a debit card

        Missing a trick here?

        • Paul says:

          24 Jul24 July 21:32

          Yes as curve is treated as a debit card by Sandi so should work just fine?

      • Secret Squirrel says:

        24 Jul24 July 21:07

        How much are you putting through a month?

      • James says:

        24 Jul24 July 21:18

        @Doug M good advice. I was going to estate £5k a month.

        £5k in and £5 out

        • BJ says:

          24 Jul24 July 21:59

          No worries there 🙂 FWIW, I pushed thousands in and out of multiple accounts in single days for years without any problems. Not so much anymore but when easy access was 5%+ and regular savers 8%+ its worthwhile. The banks knew what was going on, and they are not going to get overexcited when you transfer money into another account in your own name.

      • Rahaney says:

        24 Jul24 July 22:05

        Is this through a DS account as opposed to PB? Which would you recommend?

        • BJ says:

          24 Jul24 July 22:18

          I’ve only ever used DS, and for more than 5k/m.

    • Secret Squirrel says:

      25 Jul25 July 11:54

      Probable depends on the frequency and amounts in question. If you putting through very high numbers and lots of them then this is more likely to raise alarm bells.
      Agree if you leave amounts in for longer is the safe bet but I like to play on the dark side.

  • John says:

    25 Jul25 July 05:32

    Income bonds are basically the best savings rate on the market right now. I’m leaving the money in there. Time the deposit right and it’s 2 months interest free (on the credit card) too

    • James says:

      25 Jul25 July 11:21

      The amount you gain in interest is not worth it IMO.

      £5k on a credit card (miles, points or CB) beats the interest you would earn.

• Nigel says:

  24 Jul24 July 21:33

  Does anyone know if using Curve with HSBC Prem Credit Card for Ernie and Amex cause any extra charges from HSBC?

  • Matty says:

    24 Jul24 July 22:09

    Ernie is fine with HSBC WP.

  • Secret Squirrel says:

    25 Jul25 July 07:10

    You can’t use Amex Nigel.

    • Doug M says:

      25 Jul25 July 09:30

      Think he means paying Amex

      • Secret Squirrel says:

        25 Jul25 July 11:55

        I can never get Curve to be accepted on Amex. I’ve used desktop and app – No go?

        • Doug M says:

          25 Jul25 July 19:16

          Not done it for a while. But it was 700/week and 300 in a single payment. Always worked for me.

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.